I am delighted to introduce my beautiful Mom, Maureen, to you all. We nearly lost her in May last year and I thank God that He healed her in such a miraculous way. She is the rock of our family and exudes the love of Jesus in every part of her being.

I asked her only yesterday if she would write a post for Red Letters. Her immediate response was, ‘Yes’. Later on she told me she had no idea what she would write but not long after, God had given her the words. I honour my Mom, thank God for her and feel privileged to introduce her to the Red Letters blog.

Home and Dry by MaureenWestwood

‘Definitely safe or successful’, is the Collins English dictionary definition of ‘Home and Dry’.

Here is a word from the voice of experience….At the age of 73 years and as a Mom of two daughters, with an age difference of 15 years, I believe I can say this.

My husband, Gordon, and I did not come to know Jesus in a life changing way until after the birth of our second child. Therefore, our first daughter was brought up in a secular home and our second daughter, in a home with born again, Jesus loving, parents.

Our eldest daughter, Michelle, was much loved and gentle and sweet natured. We believed in and encouraged what we thought to be the main values, such as: kindness, sharing, not lying etc, and we were very proud parents.

When Michelle became a teenager, we provided her with all of the usual warnings: about not getting pregnant, not smoking and drinking etc, but when she was out there in the ‘world’, she did make some wrong choices, which of course was a source of worry and upset for us.

Then, fifteen years later along came our second daughter, Hayley and a great joy and delight to us and her sister, Michelle.

The difference in raising my two daughters was that this time my husband and I were following Jesus and our youngest daughter had extra teachings from Sunday school and church.

What do you think then was the result of our sound advice for both of them?

I have come to realise that even with what we thought to be ‘good parenting’, once they became of age and even with children of their own, they had decisions to make for themselves.

Over time, both of my daughters, have been in rocky boats, tossed to and fro with every wave and scary storm of life. During this time, my husband and I had to remain steadfast in prayer and trust that Jesus had His hand on their lives.

Eventually the time came, after particularly bad times, that both daughters bowed the knee to Jesus, repented and made the decision to follow Him.

This only came when Michelle and Hayley had finally decided that they wanted out of this rocky boat which, overtime had developed large holes and was now sinking.

At this point, Gordon and I were then able to step in and say,

“You have been a witness to our Christian walk and our love for Jesus. We are testimony to the goodness of God and now is the time to repent and ask God to turn your lives around.”

It was at this point that we also realised, our own self righteousness would not be sufficient, only God’s grace.

Michelle and Hayley have been following Jesus for some time now and the Lord has really turned their lives around. Despite an awareness that the storms will still come, I know they are in a ‘safe boat’, with no holes in and which will never sink.

I can’t thank Jesus enough because I know that they have both accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and are now ‘Home and Dry’!

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Published by Hayley Boden

Hi my name is Hayley Boden and I am a follower of Jesus.
I am married to Jon & have two daughters, age 14 & 11.
I am a worship leader and author of the book ‘Worship in Spirit and in Truth’ and I am passionate about teaching the power of worship to the local church.
I share my thoughts on all things relating to Christianity & I write to encourage, inspire & motivate.
View all posts by Hayley Boden

It’s an amazing testimony, Lee. My parents have had a lot to put up with from my sister and I but they never ceased to pray and believe that their daughters would come to know Jesus. I’m so thankful for them.
Hayley 😊💜

Thank you Patrick for sharing that scripture from Isaiah. I had shared the same scripture with my sister just a couple of days ago.

Please may I ask that you stand in prayer with us for my niece Taylor. We are praying for huge breakthrough as she has cut herself off from God and the family. We are asking the Lord to bring her back to her family and to His heart.